lovemybike wrote:I did Lisa and thanks! It was a BNA challenge. I did one a month but some people seemed to do one a week. Pretty amazing. Well done in your racing today!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Julie, it was a great series to give crit racing a go in as there were separate races for the men and ladies...now to go to regular racing with mixed races, might give D grade a crack next week....

Grant, nice work on the Jamberoo ride. That first couple of kilometres certainly is a good test both physically and mentally.

Lewy, impressive effort on the fixie ride.

Julie, top effort on the century a month. Nice way to help bring down the required average for the rest of the month too.

I was pretty happy to get in a few kilometres today. With a half day of work I got my small commute in but that was all I was expecting as I'd already decided this weekend was for some family time. I got a call at work from wife saying she wanted to take our daughter shopping and our son had asked if I could take him to the BMX track. Now it was just over a month ago that he'd decided he wasn't too freaked out to try and ride a bike with pedals and without training wheels. While he took to it fairly quickly it was the new 16 inch bike for his 5th birthday last week that saw him all of a sudden be able to get a bit more speed up, ride up small inclines and be able to handle anything more than a driveway lip in terms of roughness. Now a week later he's decided he's ready for the BMX track! I wasn't so sure but I thought I'd let him get out there and see how he goes. So we drop the girls at the shops then head over to the BMX track. It's completely empty so he can have a go without having to worry about getting in the way of anyone. His helmet is on before I've managed to get his bike out of the boot and as soon as he has it he's off to ride around the empty carpark. I set about grabbing my bike off the roof and grabbing my gear and next thing I know he's on top of the final ramp and taking off to head the wrong way around the track. He manages the final and third straights ok but has to walk the bike up the ramp at the end of the second straight. He then takes off again down the other side but came off on the way up the next one. He picks himself up and goes back to the final two straights riding back and forth along them for a while before having another go at the second straight. This time he makes it most of the way before getting stuck just before the top of a ramp and having to hop off. He has a third attempt and this time get's stuck just before the top of one of the tallest ramps before rolling backwards then sliding off.

That one shook him up a bit but after brushing himself off he hops back on the bike for a bit of a ride around some of the surrounding fire trails and singletrack. Then he goes back to the last two straights and alternates between them and the surrounding bush for the rest of our ride. A few other riders turned up during the time as well. A couple more parents with some slightly older kids having their first go on the BMX track, a couple of teenagers on MTBs coming back to the track for the first time in years and a couple of much more experienced BMX riding teenagers but despite the increased traffic everyone seamed to be getting their fare go of the track and having a great time.

When we picked the rest of the family back up he tells them he wants to show them how he can ride on the BMX track now so we pick up the other bikes and the whole family heads down for some more time at the BMX track and surrounding bush. At the end of that he asks to ride home as well so I ride home with him while my wife takes the car and our daughter home. All up I reckon he managed around 15km for the day and I got to have my quality family time and ride the bike as well.

Started the day needing 51km to complete 6000km in one year (for the first time). The plan was to get on the road early before what was predicted to be a 37° day - didn't quite go according to plan. An appointment set for the day before had the other party not show up , so had to reschedule for 0700 in Melbourne CBD. Eventually on the bike shortly after 0930 and heading up to Kinglake for the first time ever. I lost some time when a shifting problem became a real nuisance, refusing to go down cogs on the rear; I dropped in to Bike Force in Eltham and they had a quick look and diagnosed the problem in the shifter (I had worried it was the cable), frustrating but wouldn't put and end to the trip (Thanks guys!!!). Pushed on through Eltham and Kangaroo Ground and already getting pretty warm on the bike, progress was getting pretty slow and the Garmin was reading 39.2°C. I realised that I would be even slower once I hit the harder climbs at the end and was starting to worry that i would be back in time to be cleaned up, showered and in my party clothes for a family event. So I pulled the pin at St Andrews, cooled off and had a bite to eat at Smith's Gully bakery and headed for home. Ended up a good decision as it was still a struggle to get home, needed to stop a few times to cool off and find more water, I rolled in to the driveway right on time. Disappointed i hadn't got up to Kinglake but the Garmin was reading 60.1km in 3:03 which meant 6009km YTD.

Started the day needing 51km to complete 6000km in one year (for the first time). The plan was to get on the road early before what was predicted to be a 37° day - didn't quite go according to plan. An appointment set for the day before had the other party not show up , so had to reschedule for 0700 in Melbourne CBD. Eventually on the bike shortly after 0930 and heading up to Kinglake for the first time ever. I lost some time when a shifting problem became a real nuisance, refusing to go down cogs on the rear; I dropped in to Bike Force in Eltham and they had a quick look and diagnosed the problem in the shifter (I had worried it was the cable), frustrating but wouldn't put and end to the trip (Thanks guys!!!). Pushed on through Eltham and Kangaroo Ground and already getting pretty warm on the bike, progress was getting pretty slow and the Garmin was reading 39.2°C. I realised that I would be even slower once I hit the harder climbs at the end and was starting to worry that i would be back in time to be cleaned up, showered and in my party clothes for a family event. So I pulled the pin at St Andrews, cooled off and had a bite to eat at Smith's Gully bakery and headed for home. Ended up a good decision as it was still a struggle to get home, needed to stop a few times to cool off and find more water, I rolled in to the driveway right on time. Disappointed i hadn't got up to Kinglake but the Garmin was reading 60.1km in 3:03 which meant 6009km YTD.

Blowing like a windy thing up here today so I've been catching up with things around the shed, tidied away some tools, roasted some coffee, did a bit of work on the Hercules (trying to get the dynamo lights to work) and patched a years worth of punctured tubes. There were only 3 (and one of those was on the trainer). It's been a good year that way

Mugglechops wrote:Thanks Shane. Looks like you may have a future BMX racer on your hands.

If your keen for a cheap 20, 40 or 60km MTB race next Sunday, I am running the local club race.

Yeah, Noah has showed an interest in the BMX even before he could ride on his own. The track is across the carpark from the Little As field and both are on friday nights. Because the Tiny Tots finish at least an hour before the rest, including his sister Alex, he loves to head over to watch the BMX. Only a matter of time before he asks to start racing now I'm sure.

As for the SCUM race, if I hadn't already made plans to head out for a recon ride for the Meryla Meandering Audax ride (which is on the 29th) then I'd be pretty keen to head down for it. After that one though my recon work needs to shift down your way with the Tour de SCUM being the next ride of the dirt series.

sblack wrote: After that one though my recon work needs to shift down your way with the Tour de SCUM being the next ride of the dirt series.

I should have that sorted for you over the Christmas break.

Thanks for your help with this one. I'm looking forward to getting down there for a few rides before the Audax ride is on. My current 2013 ride calendar has April set aside for preparation for it and Feb and March only have one major ride in each so I can hopefully get down there a couple of times then as well.

For 2012 I wanted 6,000 but it is going to take me slightly more than 300 hours to achieve it - yes I am old and fat and slow.

I have been thinking about my goals for 2013 & maybe taking a diffent tack. So my goal for 2013 is match this years 315 hours and see how much further ahead I can get. Sure I may be a year older, but I can fight hard on the other 2, even if it doesn't mean me breaking 10k next year

Thanks Julie and all others who have sent congrats; likewise well done to all the others! It has been inspiring having encouragement of others to bring up 6k for the first time, enjoyed the stories and the banter!

norbs wrote:And you should be next!

+1 You are really cranking out the km now Julie, just over 400 to go; keep us posted.

find_bruce wrote:For 2012 I wanted 6,000 but it is going to take me slightly more than 300 hours to achieve it - yes I am old and fat and slow.

I have been thinking about my goals for 2013 & maybe taking a diffent tack. So my goal for 2013 is match this years 315 hours and see how much further ahead I can get. Sure I may be a year older, but I can fight hard on the other 2, even if it doesn't mean me breaking 10k next year

How many km do you have up for this year? 315 hrs isn't too bad (IMHO), it has taken me about 270 hours; I've also found that I've got faster as my fitness has picked up.

find_bruce wrote:I have been thinking about my goals for 2013 & maybe taking a diffent tack. So my goal for 2013 is match this years 315 hours and see how much further ahead I can get. Sure I may be a year older, but I can fight hard on the other 2, even if it doesn't mean me breaking 10k next year

I like that approach. Same time commitment but upping the ante with fitness. Very cool.